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  • Special Teams

    Michael Saunders & Company 5:34 pm on February 11, 2010 | Comments:0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: brokerage affiliations, , , CMA, EREN, featured listings, , , , , , michaelsaunders.com, MSC Marketing, MSC Technology, , , Super Bowl

    There’s nothing like a major upset in a riveting Super Bowl to remind us how important teamwork, preparation, focus and the right attitude are.  After all, strip away the hype and hoopla.   Skip the big-name entertainment, talking heads, pre-game interviews and trash-talking press conferences; and the Super Bowl ultimately drills down to which team shows up with enough heart to win.  For doing just that, and winning it’s first-ever championship, we congratulate the New Orleans Saints along with every faithful fan from the “Who Dat Nation.”

    The business of selling your home in today’s real estate market is one of life’s biggest Super Bowl events, requiring as much teamwork, preparation and focus as pro football’s premier match-up; but with no fumbles, interceptions or penalties allowed.  When you list your property with the team from Michael Saunders & Company, your quest for the ideal outcome is actually heightened through the combined efforts of several special teams within a team.  Their common goal?  To sell your home as quickly, efficiently—and as uneventfully—as possible; for as much as today’s market will allow.

    Sending in our special teams on your behalf begins with the preparation of a thorough Competitive Market Analysis (or CMA).  A timely and well-documented CMA shows exactly how your home stacks up against its competition; and how it must be priced to become an instant must-see for buyers in its competitive set.  If necessary, the special team from MSC Style can step-in to make sure your home looks and shows to maximum advantage through a number of recommendations proven to help a home sell faster.

    Once ready for the market, the special teams from MSC Marketing and MSC Technology swing into action to make sure your home is properly showcased and presented to as many potential buyers as possible.  Now that nine out of ten buyers start their property searches on the Internet the logical first step, of course, is to upload your property’s complete listing information onto michaelsaunders.com, by far the # 1 trafficked web site in Southwest Florida.   No other company in Southwest Florida has invested more time, money or talent into making sure that ours is at once the easiest to access, easiest to use and most information-packed real estate Web site in the region, if not the country.

    If you opt—as many of today’s sellers do—to price your home aggressively below competitive properties, it becomes immediately eligible to appear in the Best Opportunities section of michaelsaunders.com.  Because Best Opportunities is routinely visited and re-visited by today’s most value-conscious buyers, its featured listings average well over 500 showings per property.  Moreover, since debuting last May, 41% of the 812 listings that have appeared in the section have sold.

    Additionally, your property listing is uplinked to more than 2,000 other local, regional, national and international web sites for additional exposure to buyers everywhere.

    On the local front, with more than 550 agents working from 16 strategically-located sales offices, the ground team at Michael Saunders & Company is uniquely capable of capturing buyers wherever they happen to show-up first.  Many of these agents will preview your property during the company’s weekly caravan of new properties.  Here they actually visit the home in person to assess its potential compatibility with the housing needs of their extensive databases of buyers.

    On a much broader scale, our worldwide brokerage affiliations—strategic alliances formed over nearly four decades and strengthened by Michael Saunders’ continuous top-level involvement with each—are another way we make sure your home is systematically exposed to the most potential buyers.  These affiliations include Christie’s Great Estates, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, Luxury Portfolio, EREN—The European Real Estate Network, Luxuryrealestate.com and Mayfair International Realty.

    It goes without saying that each offer received on your home is formally presented to you; then skillfully negotiated until one is accepted and a contract approved by both parties.  During this critical phase of the sale, two more special teams are prepared to go to work for you.   MSC Mortgage smoothes the way to a closed sale by pre-qualifying buyers for the safest and best loan products available on the market today.  Meanwhile, the team from MSC Title makes sure that all title issues are carefully researched and examined to assure free and clear title to the property.  If your immediate needs are best served through the “short sale” process, our MSC Short Sale Division puts a team of experienced short sale negotiators in your corner.

    Our market has at long last experienced months of positive and sustained buyer activity.   If your 2010 game plan includes selling your home, invite an agent from Michael Saunders & Company to explain how listing it with the # 1 real estate team in Southwest Florida will put a new owner inside faster than you can say “Who dat?”

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  • Romance on the Gulf Coast - Top 10 Valentine’s Day Ideas

    John Butzko 3:38 pm on February 11, 2010 | Comments:0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , michaelsaunders.com, ,

    This year, make Valentine's Day special for the one you love.

    As the day of love and adoration approaches, many find themselves without a plan to express their feelings to the object of their affection. While we do encourage our readers to articulate and share their heartfelt sentiments throughout the year, Valentine’s Day presents itself as a must for those who prefer to maintain a relationship with the very person they endear. As such, it becomes your duty to make each February 14 a small celebration of love for those dear to you.

    Beyond the heart-shaped boxes, mounds of candy and arrangements of flowers, there is a world of romance out there just waiting for you to enjoy. This Valentine’s Day, dust off your romantic ambition and do something extraordinary for that special somebody in your heart. Here are the top 10 Valentine’s Day ideas from your friends at michaelsaunders.com: (More …)

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  • Ask Amy - What Are The Advantages Of Building Your Own Home?

    Holli Schleicher 5:35 pm on January 12, 2010 | Comments:0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Builders, , , Home Builders, michaelsaunders.com, New Homes, ,

    Amy Drake, director of our New Homes & Condominiums division, discusses the benefits of building your own home. Discover the advantages of personalizing your place, from choosing floor coverings and designing your own lifestyle to “going green.”

    To view video, please click here.

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  • New Year's Resolution

    Michael Saunders & Company 3:29 pm on December 16, 2009 | Comments:0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , homebuyer tax credit, , , michaelsaunders.com, , , , Steve Harney, , zillow.com

    Sarasota’s real estate market traveled light years in 2009, compared with where it was this time last year; and where other Florida markets still are today.  Even as ours is being recommended as the #1 best-priced housing market in the U.S.— by such real estate gurus as Barbara Corcoran for NBC’s Today Show and the market analysts at zillow.com—other major Florida markets, including Jacksonville, Orlando and Miami, are being dismissed as the nation’s most overpriced.

    Last May, when Michael Saunders invited noted real estate expert Steve Harney to Sarasota to headline a company-wide assembly of our agents, he was very clear in his takeaway message. The only way to re-enervate our market is to educate sellers to back down from unrealistic price expectations born of an unrealistic boom.   Using actual statistics culled from the Sarasota MLS, Harney showed the enormous gap between what homes are listed for and what buyers are actually willing to pay.  He then challenged our agents to close the gap.   “If not you,’ he boomed to the back row, “Then who?  If agents from one of the most respected firms in the nation won’t take the lead, who will?”

    Harney’s words had a seismic impact.  By mid-June—some six weeks later—agents from Michael Saunders & Company had achieved more than $110.7 million in overall price reductions; with more happening every day since then.  Moreover, they didn’t simply petition their sellers to lower prices, but came fortified with fresh market statistics to help their clients understand why such a move was vital to their best interests.

    After that, the proverbial dam broke; unleashing months—even years—of pent-up buyer demand.  Buyers in droves jumped eagerly off the fence to take advantage of these best-priced opportunities, while many also queued-up to take advantage of the first-time homebuyer tax credit that had recently been enacted into law.  This past week the Sarasota Association of Realtors announced that overall sales for November 2009 were nearly 86 percent higher than last November. What a difference a year makes.

    Asked by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune last week to identify which of our agents turned in the most impressive performances of 2009, the answer was a no-brainer.  As shown on the graphs below, it was through the combined efforts of every one of our agents working diligently in a tough market that led Michael Saunders & Company to increase its commanding share of the Sarasota market among the five best-performing brokers.  This holds true across all price ranges; but becomes particularly dramatic as the price range goes up. (Source: TRENDGRAPHIX: November 2009).  As well, the agents in our Manatee County and Englewood offices have achieved similar across-the-board dominance of their respective markets. Call any of our agents to share additional in-depth information from TRENDGRAPHIX—an independent source for the latest in local market trends and information.

    If you’re planning to sell your home in 2010 you should pay particular attention to the graph that depicts the percentage of “buyer sales by dollar volume.”  It shows that agents from Michael Saunders & Company furnish the buyer for closed transactions as often as the next two competitors combined.

    For the foreseeable future Southwest Florida will remain firmly entrenched in a buyers’ market where the best-priced properties will continue to sell, while the rest sit.  Pricing as correctly and aggressively as possible is the best way to ensure your home attracts the most buyers.  With the market’s largest share of buyers coming to us through every available portal—including michaelsaunders.com, our international brokerage affiliations and our referral division—the best resolution you can make if you’re planning to sell in the New Year is to contact an agent from Michael Saunders & Company.

    2009.12.20-Chart1

    2009.12.20-Chart2

    2009.12.20-Chart3

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  • Ask Michael - What Are Some Alternative Ways To Buying And Selling A Home?

    Holli Schleicher 5:01 pm on December 15, 2009 | Comments:0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , , michaelsaunders.com, , ,

    In the following video, Michael Saunders discusses the property-buying and selling alternatives that have emerged and become more prevalent within the last few years.

    To view the video, please click here.

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  • The Right Approach to Selling Your Home

    Michael Saunders & Company 4:39 pm on December 9, 2009 | Comments:0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , international buyers, , , , , michaelsaunders.com, , Will Sutton

    MSC

    Willy Sutton, a Depression-era bank robber wanted for frequent heists in New York, Miami and New Orleans, was asked by a reporter on the occasion of his capture, “Why do you rob banks?”  Sutton’s answer was as irrefutable as it was obvious. “Because that’s where the money is,” he said.

    The same sort of unassailable logic underscores why so many sellers choose to list their homes with Michael Saunders & Company.  Because that’s where the buyers are.

    It’s a fact.  The worldwide presence and connectivity of Michael Saunders & Company—combined with our agents’ drilled-down knowledge of the local market, its many neighborhoods, lifestyle options and essential pricing tools—attract more buyers to the closing table, by far, than any other company in Southwest Florida.  While this holds true across every price range, the latest research from TRENDGRAPHIX reveals that the higher the price range your home falls into, the more likely an agent from Michael Saunders & Company will furnish its buyer. Here’s why:

    With over 500 of the market’s savviest and best trained agents blanketing the region, your property is networked among all 16 branch offices of Michael Saunders & Company from the moment it is listed with any one of them.  In addition, scores of these agents and their non-competing managers convene weekly to personally review and visit the company’s newest listings.  Together they share educated insights on such key issues as proper pricing, staging techniques to make the home show best, unique marketing opportunities; and other best practices to elevate the property above its competition.  Indeed, what is likely to go down as the region’s highest-priced residential sale of 2009 involved exquisitely-choreographed teamwork between agents representing no less than four of our offices.  The buyers—longtime customers of a team of associates from our Bradenton office—recently closed on the magnificent waterfront estate on Casey Key; but not before they were afforded the advantage of tapping into the expertise of agents from our Main Street, Palmer Ranch and Longboat Key offices who are the acknowledged waterfront experts in the neighborhood where the sale took place.

    (More …)

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  • Remarkable Sherwood Forest Home - Sarasota, FL

    Holli Schleicher 5:06 pm on November 24, 2009 | Comments:3 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , , michaelsaunders.com, , ,

    The Michael Saunders & Company video team is pleased to present Marianne LeBar’s listing at 4745 Maid Marian Lane. This beautiful home is located in the Sherwood Forest Subdivision in Sarasota, FL.

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  • Ask Michael - The Importance Of Company Values

    Holli Schleicher 5:48 pm on November 17, 2009 | Comments:1 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: company values, , , michaelsaunders.com, ,

    We asked Michael, what her thoughts were on why Michael Saunders & Company has been so successful in its 30+ years of service.

    Michael discusses the company’s beginning and building its foundation on values and consistency, the very high standards our clients can always count on.

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  • Dominating the End Zone

    Michael Saunders & Company 4:34 pm on September 16, 2009 | Comments:3 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , Michael Saunders agents, michaelsaunders.com, , , ,

    Derrick Brooks from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers scoring a touchdown

    Photo Credit: Heinz Kluetmeier/SI

    Even though the area’s real estate market is at long last exhibiting true signs of a gradual but sustained recovery, it continues to favor buyers in search of the best-priced buying opportunities.  Improvements in the market notwithstanding, the pool of available homes in Southwest Florida—although shrinking—remains much larger during any given month than the corresponding pool of available buyers.   In true “supply-and-demand” fashion, the region remains in a solid buyers’ market.  Nevertheless, if you’re planning to sell your home in the not-too-distant future, you can significantly improve the odds of obtaining better results faster by taking two important steps now that will deepen your own pool of potential buyers.

    First, commit to pricing your home at least as aggressively as other homes in its competitive set, if not more so. We repeat this mantra time after time—week after week—because price remains the single most important catalyst for luring buyers away from indecision on the sidelines to confidence at the closing table.

    Second, list your home where it is absolutely assured of being noticed by the most buyers. It’s a proven fact.  For homes in virtually every price range, Michael Saunders & Company engages more buyers and brings them to the closing table—by far—than any other company in Southwest Florida.  A bold statement, to be sure; but one for which we proudly offer independent verification based on actual sales data obtained from the Sarasota MLS—and reported monthly by the California-based, independent research firm TRENDGRAPHIX.

    For homes priced from $150,000 and up, agents of Michael Saunders & Company brought buyers to the closing table 68% more often in the past 12 months than the market’s next leading competitor. For homes priced $250,000 and above, we are apt to furnish the buyer 87% more often.  Moreover, the spread between Michael Saunders & Company and the next leading competitor in the market is equally dramatic for attracting buyers to higher priced homes. This is a most vital consideration if your home falls into this category; since the recovery has yet to work its way into the upper tiers of the market.  Versus a year ago, nationwide sales of homes priced upwards from $500,000 are down 8.9%, those priced from $1 million and up are down 23.3%; and homes priced from $2 million and up are down 32.4%.

    (More …)

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  • The Neighborhood Report - Bradenton

    John Butzko 2:16 pm on July 23, 2009 | Comments:0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , michaelsaunders.com, ,

    MS&C Bradenton Office

    MS&C Bradenton Office

    From the shore of Anna Maria Island and stretching eastward along the Manatee River, the Bradenton-Manatee area is a remarkable place highlighted by a host of art and historical attractions, as well as a coastline of sun-drenched beaches. From adorable Florida fishing cottages and stately southern houses to luxury condominiums, modest mid-century homes and island bungalows, this Gulf Coast destination boasts a great sampling of residential lifestyle options. As proven area experts, the agents of our Bradenton office specialize in helping homebuyers and sellers throughout the communities of Bradenton, Palmetto, Anna Maria Island, Parrish, Terra Ceia and Lakewood Ranch.

    How’s the market in Bradenton?

    Bradenton office branch manager Pam Ali has witnessed a very active market in her area. Additionally, our Bradenton agents have recently seen a significant increase in the number of buyers and sellers making inquiries via the Michael Saunders & Company website, michaelsaunders.com. Many of these are from out-of-town potential buyers who found our piece of paradise online. Within the last 14 days, the Bradenton office has received 20 pending transactions, which indicates a healthy amount of interest in Bradenton real estate. (More …)

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